“God made man, But Samuel Colt made them equal" This a quote probably from Colt manufacturing In a world where the bad guys are generally well armed, or at least in a state where reasoning with them isn't going to happen, something else's needs to brought to the table; ie; personal self defense. Personal Self Defense begins with being aware of your surrounding, and potential and possible dangers, and scenario, that could end very badly for you. If at all possible avoiding them is always the best option, however, sometimes there is no other option but to go into a situation that is less than safe in some way. With that in mind, always be looking and thinking ahead. I’m not a personal defense expert, however, I have been watching and listening to a number of self defense shows and taken many of the lessons to heart.

In a perfect world, the only things that ever got shot were targets, and animals for hunting for food. However, this is a far less than perfect world. Sometimes, two legged animals need to be dealt with. Also in a perfect world, police would be close at hand to bail you out, the second you called 911. We all know the police are spread far too thin and understaffed and overburdened to do what they would like to, even in metropolitan areas. Much less in rural areas,where they many times only have 3 cars to cover a whole county. Response time can run from as little as 15-20 minutes, to well over half an hour, in some cases a hour, thats with them risking their lives to get there in the dark on a windy country roads. That 15-20 minutes can seem like an eternity, and a lot can happen in that time, Probably a lot has already happened, none of it good.Defending your life, and the lives of your family and loved one can come down to the choices you make now. The right to defend yourself and family has never been question, at least not in principle. However, what is quickly being questioned is what weapons you can use to do that defending.In the light of the recent mass shooting over this last year, there has been a outcry, to do something ,anything. What this has become is a knee-jerk reaction to a very real problem. Make new laws,,, most of them dumb, and don’t solve the problem. The problem in a nutshell, is health system, particularly the mental health side, The NRA has been trying for over 20 years to get a mental health database tied to gun buying background check, to make it harder for people with mental issues to get guns. The other side of the coin is, the mental health system,itself, which passes the patients off among itself, and no one takes responsibility for seeing to it the patient get what it needs, either treatment, or locked up for both their and the publics safety. No one is willing to make those hard choices, and stand behind them.The other legs to this is enforcement. That is enforcement of the laws on the books. And communication between the prosecutor, and the DA and other parties involved, be it the defense, and parole department, to make sure everyone knows if the subject has a record, and what kind of record it is.The problems occur when one leg breaks down; in the case of the recent mass shootings, its usually the mental health system which didn’t deal with theses individuals in a way that was appropriate for them, either serious treatment, and monitoring, or in extreme cases locked up for their own good. and ours.

I can understand the cry to do something, however, before we pass more bills that eliminate my right to use the gun I feel I need to protect myself and family, go back and look at the guns in question themselves, and look at the way they actually work, all semi-automatic gun work the same, you have magazine which hold your rounds, you pull the trigger once, one round goes out the barrel.The includes everything from my little Ruger 10/22, to a AR-15 and a semi-auto pistol. regardless of the platform, the principle is the same. The only difference is the “scary level of a AR-15, is considerably more than that of a traditional gun like a Ruger 10/22, or other semi auto rifle. If a Ruger 10/22 had been used in these types of shooting, it would be the “Scary Gun”

My advice is got get the people who have used these guns,in real life self defense situation, be it in the army, or ar a peace officer to testify as to why they came home that night, most would probably say that AR-15 and the high capacity magazine saved their lives and that of their fellow officers or soldiers. When is facing a unknown number of assailants and the first 2-3 shots didn't discourage them, a federally mandated ban on large capacity magazines is not going to help you when they come breaking in and all you have is 7 rounds maximum . Many times the presence of the gun pointed at the attacker is enough to make them think twice about what they want to do. Of course in some cases shots need to be fired, however, as long as there is clear evidence that the shooter was justified in using deadly force, there's usually not a problem.

As for concealed carry, the, more the better. If There's a very good chance that a bad guy going to run into a gun on the other side of the door, or inside a bank or store, or wherever, he was thinking of doing something bad, then maybe he’ll think twice. Here in Virginia we have open carry law, which allows one to openly carry a handgun on their person, without a permit. In the 3 years I’ve been here, I’ve seen 2 people carrying open. No problems. If its obvious that there are weapons around, the criminals will not be in a hurry to start something.A gun free zone is stupid, I can definitely see where limiting or regulating the people who can carry a gun in a zone is needed, however, a completely “Gun Free Zone” is essentially a killing field waiting to happen. If it is necessary to make it a” Gun Free Zone”, then other steps need to be taken to provide for security in that area.In a interview I saw recently , Ted Nugent said “ an armed society is a polite society “Meaning if criminals know the chances of winding up on the wrong end of a gun a very good if you start something, then Maybe they won’t.Us armed law-abiding citizens have nothing to fear from other armed law abiding citizens.